$150 1966 Ford Mustang Coupe - Rare Find

Hidden Treasures

Jerry Heasley

December 2, 2013

“Boxes don’t scare me at all,” Bob Becker said. Disassembly is one reason he got such a good deal. However, $150 coupes, even rolling shells like this ’66 six-cylinder, are pretty much nonexistent these days.

The deal came about when Becker heard the owner, also named Becker but no relation, mention “running the car across the scales for scrap.” Bob figured he needed to make a move.

“I wouldn’t mind buying it off you,” Bob recalls as his exact words.

The two Beckers had developed a friendship over the past few years. Bob works at Carter Engine & Machine in Amarillo, Texas, and is well-known in the area for collecting vintage Mustangs. He’s filled a garage and a storage building with parts while building old Mustangs in his spare time. One day Roy Becker stopped by to look for suspension parts. “He wanted to convert a six-cylinder Mustang to a V-8,” Bob said.

Apparently Roy was building a 1966 Mustang for his wife. The two Beckers started trading Mustang parts, with Roy rounding up a pair of Autolite 4100 four-barrel carburetors to swap for suspension pieces.

Then the Mustang build was derailed last year when Roy’s wife passed away. Bob finally got a look at the ’66 coupe, finding, as seen here, a disassembled rolling shell and missing various parts as well.

Roy didn’t want to scrap the Mustang, so he sold it to Bob for the same price he paid for it many years ago. Roy had done much of the disassembly, depositing a myriad of parts in boxes. Bob has restored so many early cars he told us he didn’t mind purchasing a Mustang in boxes. He would have to disassemble the car anyway, and he was sure that he had replacements for the missing parts from other projects.

Bob checked for rust and could find none. Roy had removed a quarter-panel that had apparently been hit at one time. Bob plans to build the early coupe for his one-year-old daughter, Arizona Rose Becker. He’s already built a 1964½ coupe for his older daughter, “Big Sister” Cacy, already of driving age.

In 15 years, the sisters plan to get their Mustangs out for a race. Maybe we should feature that competition in 2028.